TWO NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES ......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES ..... TWO NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES

Don’t ever let anyone tell you that elections don’t have consequences. Just ask Tayha Fuenmayor. More on her shortly.

A couple of months ago, Circuit Court Judges Jacqueline Scola and John Schlesinger announced their retirement. Scola’s last day on the bench was March 6th; Schlesinger’s April 3^rd. The JNC met and interviewed several applicants. On March 20, 2020, they sent 12 names to the Governor for his consideration. Governor DeSantis had SIXTY DAYS to make his decision, meaning we should have expected the two new appointments to be made on or about May 19, 2020. Ah, but here’s the rub.

Picking the two replacements from the current pool of County Court judges, specifically County Court judges that were running for re-election in 2020, well that was the smart play. And appointing two County Court Judges running for re-election, and doing so before Monday, April 20^th, that would be the really smart play. Because, that would mean the seats would be "open" before Qualifying Week (which runs from April 20-24, 2020) and then DeSantis gets to appoint the two replacements, depriving the voters of Miami-Dade County of that right.

Very, very shrewd. If DeSantis regularly made appointments to the bench 30 days or less after receiving the names from the JNC, well, then, ok, that would be "normal". But DeSantis almost always makes his appointments on or very close to the 60^th day.

AND, with two open seats on the Florida Supreme Court, the Supreme Court JNC sent their nominations to the Governor on January 23rd. Constitutionally, he had 60 days to make those appointments with a deadline of March 23rd. Guess what - DeSantis said he had something a bit more important to do - manage the COVID-19 crisis - and that the appointments could wait.

That leads us to DeSantis’ two newest appointments to the bench.

JUDGE ZACHARY JAMES. He replaces Judge Scola on the Circuit Court bench. In less than ten months, James has gone from private attorney to County Court Judge (having been appointed on June 5, 2019) to Circuit Court Judge - he was appointed on April 3, 2020, a mere 14 days after his name arrived on Gov. DeSantis’ desk. By the way, James is a former ASA.

JUDGE LODY JEAN. She replaces Judge Schlesinger on the Circuit Court bench. Like James, Judge Jean jumped from ASA to the County Court bench (November 16, 2018) to the Circuit Court bench (today) in exactly seventeen months.

THE KICKERS. Judge James had filed to run in Group 28 of the County Court. Now, not only does he not have to face the voters in August, but because his appointment comes before Qualifying Week, DeSantis gets to name his replacement .

And that’s where Tayha Fuenmayor comes back into the story. You see, she filed to run in Group 35 of the County Court against, you guessed it, Judge Lody Jean. With DeSantis’ appointment today of Jean to the Circuit Court, he literally pulls the rug out from under Ms. Fuenmayor’s feet. If he had made the appointment next Monday, during Qualifying Week, the voters would have decided who the next Judge would be in Group 35. Now, instead, Jean gets a free ride until 2022 before she has to face the voters, and DeSantis gets to chose Jean’s replacement. Fuenmayor, we are guessing, will need to find another Incumbent judge to challenge next week.

In case you are keeping count, and we are, that’s two more former ASAs named by DeSantis to the bench. In less than 16 months on the job, DeSantis has named 59 judges to the County, Circuit, DCAs, and Supreme Court bench. The count to date: 41 of the 59 were at some point in their careers an ASA/AUSA/AAG. The only appointment Governor DeSantis has made directly out of a P.D.’s office so far: Judge Ayana Harris.

Have a COVID-FREE weekend.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

FLORIDA SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINES FIVE MIAMI-DADE JUDGES .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT SPEAKS .......

INQUIRY CONCERNING A JUDGE NO. 18-572
RE: CINDY LEDERMAN, MARCIA CABALLERO,
ROSA FIGAROLA, TERESA POOLER, MAVEL RUIZ.

"In this case, we review the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) concerning Judge Cindy Lederman, Judge Marcia Caballero, Judge Rosa Figarola, Judge Teresa Pooler, and Judge Mavel Ruiz (the respondents). We further review the stipulation entered into between the respondents and the JQC. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 12, Fla. Const.

As we explain below (see attached ORDER), we approve the parties’ stipulation that during a competitive procurement process, the respondents improperly submitted a letter to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), encouraging DCF to award a contract to a particular vendor. Moreover, we approve the JQC’s finding that this misconduct violated Canons 1, 2, and 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and we also approve the stipulated discipline of a written reprimand via publication of this written opinion."

YOUR TWO NEWEST JUSTICES OF THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT .....

Will have to wait. Governor DeSantis, according to the Florida Constitution, had 60 days to appoint two justices from the nine names as recommended by the FSC JNC as the result of the resignations of Justice Barbara Lagoa and Justice Robert Luck. One of the two named must reside in the 3^rd DCA (noted by the *). The deadline to name the two justices was on Monday, March 23, 2020. Governor DeSantis has announced that he is just a little bit busy with more important matters and the court is functioning just fine with its five current justices. Here are the finalists:

*John Couriel

Renatha Francis
Jonathan Gerber
Jamie Grosshans
*Norma Lindsey
Timothy Osterhaus
*Eliot Pedrosa
Lori Rowe
Meredith Sasso

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE .......

Meanwhile, the JNC for our local 11^th Judicial Circuit did go ahead and interview by telephone conference last Thursday all 16 applicants for the two open Circuit Court seats resulting from the retirements of Judges Jacqueline Hogan Scola and John Schlesinger. The 12 names sent to Governor DeSantis include:

Jason Bloch

Raul Antonio Cuervo
Christopher Green
Kevin Hellmann
Chiaka Ihekwaba
Zachary James
Scott Janowitz
Lody Jean
Joseph Mansfield
Marie Elizabeth Mato
Melissa Damian Visconti
Craig Weissberg


CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

FIVE OPEN SEATS ON THE CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT BENCH .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:


MORATORIUM ON HAND-SHAKING AT ALL MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COURTHOUSES .....

Our longtime faithful readers will recall this headline from August 31, 2009. At the time, our country was in the midst of another pandemic, the "swine flu (H1N1)" and we wrote this post encouraging fist pumps and elbow pumps in all Miami-Dade courthouses.  Kudos to Rumpole for his early preparation checklist posted yesterday as we all prepare for COVID-19. 

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A CIRCUIT/COUNTY COURT JUDGE .......

The 11^th Circuit JNC met and interviewed 25 attorneys to replace three County Court Judges who were recently elevated to the Circuit Court bench: Judges Christina DiRaimondo, Robert Watson and Ramiro Areces.

The JNC nominated a total of 18 attorneys for Governor DeSantis’ consideration. He will have 60 days to choose three new County Court Judges. The nominees include:

Karl Brown
Cristina Rivera Correa
Renier Diaz de la Portilla
Carlos H. Gamez
Rita Gonzalez Cuervo
Christopher Green
Marcia Hansen
Peter Heller
Kevin Hellman
Chiaka Ihekwaba
Scott M. Janowitz
Jeffrey Kolokoff
Gale Lewis
Steven Lieberman
Griska Mena
Christopher Pracitto
Patricia Salman
Craig Weissberg

Two Circuit Court Judges have announced that they are retiring from the bench. Judges Jacqueline Hogan Scola and John Schlesinger (his last day is April 3rd), notified Governor DeSantis of their intention to retire. The JNC is now accepting applications for those two open seats on the Circuit Court. You have until 5 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 16, to submit your application to:

Walter J. Harvey
School Board Attorney
The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida
1450 N.E 2nd Avenue, Suite 430
Miami, Florida 33132

SO, YOU WANT TO RUN FOR JUDGE .......

Qualifying to run for Judge takes place the week of April 20-24, 2020. With seven weeks left before the end of qualifying, so far there are a total of five contested elections - two in Circuit Court and three in County Court. Of note, in County Court, Incumbent Judges Joe Mansfield, Lody Jean, and Gordon Murray, Jr. have all drawn opposition. In Circuit Court, the only incumbent to draw opposition so far is Judge Mavel Ruiz.

GRISKA MENA - ONE WAY OR ANOTHER ........

Former ASA Griska Mena (2006-2019), currently Staff Counsel for the South Florida PBA, is determined to become a judge, one way or another. For the past few years she has repeatedly applied to the JNC for open seats on the County and Circuit Court bench. She has repeatedly been granted an interview by the JNC. She has on a few occasions been nominated by the JNC to the Governor’s office - most recently in April of 2019 when there were two open seats; November of 2019 when there were four open seats; and again in February of 2020 when there were three open seats. He name is currently before Governor DeSantis (see above).

At the same time, in June of 2019, Mena filed in Group 64 of the Circuit Court to run for judge. Clearly she was anticipating that Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola was going to retire at the end of her current term. Unfortunately for Mena, Hogan Scola chose to retire early and informed Governor DeSantis that her last day on the bench would be March 6, 2020. Not coincidentally, as Judge Hogan Scola told me this past weekend, she always intended to end her career on that date as March 7^th is her birthday and that was a birthday gift to herself.

Of course this now means that Governor DeSantis and not the voters will chose the next judge to fill Group 64. This also means that Mena must file in a different Group if she still wants to run for judge and if she is not chosen by Governor DeSantis for an open seat herself.

By the way, Ms. Mena, you need to check your mail. According to the Division of Elections, your campaign Treasurer has failed to file the required reporting documents on several occasions. Letters were sent to you and your treasurer on November 5, January 13, and again on January 31 informing you of that. To date, Mena has raised $19,235 from 48 separate contributors.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com